Heroes & Thieves
by Little Miss Juliet
Summary: AU :: Kory Anders: sweet, kind, cheerful. Rachelle Roth: dark, distant, cold. The two of them together: best friends, inseperable, ready to conquer the world. :: A Rae/Star friendship story. Rating may change.
1. Last Fall

A/n: I'm a _**bad**_ little girl. I started a new story. I'm sorry! I couldn't help it! I just get the weirdest ideas and I fall in love with them! This particular idea was partially inspired by Firefly Laneby Kristen Hannah and a tad bit of Wicked by Gregory McGuire and the Broadway musical based on it. Both books should go on your must read list and check out the Wicked original Broadway cast recording (found on YouTube or iTunes.)

* * *

**_Prolouge: Last Fall_**

It all began the summer of 1994, when two girls were at the age of three, meaning that they were full of life and eager to take on the world as it came at them.

One more than the other, however.

That was Kory Anders. Perky, cheerful and a sweet disposition. She had thick, fiery red hair that ended two inches below her tan shoulder. She had vivid green eyes that glowed as bright as the sun. Her tan skin fair and smooth. She lived with her mother, father, her older sister Komi and her younger brother Ryan in a large, suburban home that was surrounded by grand oak trees and a rose bush.

The other being Rachelle Roth. She was Kory's _exact opposite _right down to the smallest detail. Her hair, was a deep, deep ebony-like brown and cut short. Her eyes were a blue-gray and about as overcast as her personality. She was dark, distant and shut out anyone that tried to approach her. She was only open with her mother, Arella, who was always tense, but would always show a small, shining smile for her daughter. Her father, Terry was always tense and rarely ever smiled, which unfortunately rubbed off on Rachelle. They lived in the same neighborhood as the Anders family, but in a modest house that was surrounded only by broken beer bottles, wilting plants, decaying trees and the horrible stench of alcohol, vomit and dead flies.

They both resided in Jump City, a considerable city on the caost of California, just down the road from each other and neither new they exsisted.

The fact that these two girls would grow to be best friends remained a mystery to both girls and everyone in their world, but it happened and no one regretted that fact.

_But now I feel like I could fly feel like I could rise up  
There to where you're calling me  
No more asking why no more foolish lies  
Cause I have finished falling  
_


	2. Where The Streets Have No Name

**_Chapter One: Where The Streets Have No Name_**

Hot.

It was the only word that Rachelle could think of to describe the weather. Only being three years old, it seemed like the best choice as well.

_Very_ hot....

Later in life, Rachelle would learn how to add extensive _colorful_ words between "very" and "hot," but right now, they would have to do.

* * *

While Rachelle was mauling over about the temperature, Kory was happily enjoying herself with her brother in the family pool. She giggled and Ryan fell of the floating plastic seahorse and splashed over to help him. Komi, who was two years older than Kori and was approaching the age of six, made a face and went back to fanning herself with a paper plate and sipped her orange juice as daintily as she could manage.

"Kowy! Kowy!" Ryan shrieked in delight, "wide wif me!" Kory grinned and climbed on top of the pool toy. She straddled it and kicked the water with her feet so the two would inch their way to the other side of the pool.

"Eeeee!" Kory's two year old brother squealed as droplets of the cool water sprinkled him, "mow Kowy! Mow!" Kory giggled at Ryan's version of her name.

"Kay Ryan!" she happily responded, taking a handful of the liquid and dumping it onto her brother's head, causing him to laugh and clap with mirth.

"Kory! Komi! Ryan!" The three children looked up to see their mother in a lavender apron and a wash rag in her hands, "lunch time!" Kory and Ryan scrambled off the plastic seahorse and out of the pool, running into the house where the aroma of grilled cheese and spaghetti wafted throughout the house. Komi sat up and slid her feet into her sandals. She ran a hand through her obsidian hair and stood up. Mrs. Anders sighed and gave Komi a look that said, 'you can be a grown-up lady later' and walked over to her daughter.

"Come on Komi," she picked up the girl.

"Mommy!" Komi screamed in protest, "put me down! What if the kids from Citadel see me?" Citadel being the grade school she was soon to enter come fall.

"Don't worry Komi," her mother assured her, "no one will see you." Komi pouted, but allowed herself to be carried into the kitchen and set down next to Kory who was sitting on the chair that barely put her at eye level with the table.

"Skettis!" Ryan clapped as Mrs. Anders placed some of the noddles in a bowl in front of him, "skettis, skettis, skettis!" Mrs. Anders laughed.

"Yes Ryan, skettis." She pushed the bowl closer to her son who took a fistful of the spaghetti and shoved as must as he could into his mouth.

Kory, on the other hand, picked up her fork and speared the food. She put the fork to her mouth and slurped the noodles off of it, some of the sauce smearing onto her cheek in the process which caused Ryan to giggle.

Komi scowled and took up her own fork. She twirled some noodles onto it and put them in her mouth as gracefully as a five-year-old could.

Ryan then tried to reach for the warm grilled cheese sandwiches that were sitting neatly on a platter. Kory took notice of this and handed him one. Ryan smiled at her in thanks, showing off his two front teeth that were still growing in. Kori smiled back.

* * *

Rachelle grumbled as she used all of her toddler strength to open the refrigerator door. It came open with a small sucking sound and Rachelle smiled at her handiwork: an open fridge.

She ran to the corner of the living room and began to push a phone book towards the kitchen. She stacked three of the yellow pages books and climbed on top of them, reaching for a loaf of wheat bread.

Her small, pale hand just managed to grasp the bread bag when her makeshift ladder fell apart. The phone books' slippery pages slid against each other and caused Rachelle to tumbled to the hard, linoleum floor and to hit her head.

Rachelle whimpered. Hot tears began to sting her eyes and cascade down her soft cheeks. She sniffed and made an attempt to blink the tears away, but it was all in vain, so she began to cry.

Arellahad heard the commotion and came into the kitchen. Her eyes were greeted with the open fridge, three scattered phone books, a bag of wheat bread and her daughter crying on the floor. Arella frowned. She picked up the bread and placed it on the counter. Then she gathered the phone books and put them back int he living room. Then she tended to her daughter.

She scooped up the distraught Rachelle in her arms and rubbed her back.

"Oh...." she cooed, "oh, oh, oh, oh, oh..." she stroked Rachelle's dark hair. Rachelle hiccuped and cried into he shirt.

"What happened baby?" Arella asked, wipping Rachelle's tears with her smooth hands.

"I was hungwy an' I wanted food...." she started sobbing. Arella's frown grew.

"Oh baby...if you wanted some lunch honey, all you had to do was ask," she told her crying daughter. Rachelle sniffed.

"But you were busy!" Rachelle cried. Arelle sighed sadly and shook her head.

"Oh sweetie. No matter what I'm doing, I'll always make you lunch, okay?" She wiped the remaining tears off of Rachelle's face.

"Okay...." Rachelle whispered. Arella smiled.

"That's better. Now how about some lunch? How does a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and milk sound?" She asked, setting Rachelle down on the counter. Rachelle smiled though the last remains of her tears and nodded.

_I want to feel, sunlight on my face  
I see that dust cloud disappear without a trace  
I want to take shelter from the poison rain  
Where the streets have no name  
_

* * *

A/n: Now you've probably noticed, I've decided to make Rachelle with an extra "le" instead of the average Rachel. I added the "le" because I have a hidden love for names with the extra "le" like "Isabelle," "Annabelle," "Rachelle," etc. They look SO much more...exotic...and pretty! So I decided since I do like Raven (when she's not with Robin in a bad way -cough-) I thought I'd make her name appear "pretty" in this fic.

p.s. I know you Reality Check readers will be pissed at me, but I've decided to put RC:STG, as well as the rest of the RC series on HIATUS, seeing that I have lost interest. I PROMISE I won't just drop the series. I'll finish it....eventually.

p.p.s. Vanessa Carlton is LOVE therefore all of the chapters will have a title named after one of her songs. Plus a small sample of the lyrics. Do enjoy.


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